Showing posts with label Kindle Unlimited. Show all posts

Why the demise of ARe and KU rankings will be a game changer

I've been doing some soul searching at chez Scott about Kindle Unlimited. Now don't get me wrong I'm so against KU - I've been around quite a few years and I have a loyal group of people who read me in ePub or PDF. I resolved to put all my new books wide, meaning Mobi, ePub or PDF, and I have nearly everything out there available in all formats.

We publish direct at Kobo and Amazon, and use an aggregator for everything else (Smashwords).

There was also ARe, which accounted for maybe 1/10th of my sales quarterly (or at least it used to until Autumn last year when sales began to drop there and rise instead at other places).

So where will the ARe buyers go?

I decided to look at the last four ARe reports and the file types bought and to demonstrate a couple of things I will be completely transparent about my ARe % sales...




This does not include free books. 

What this demonstrates is that just around 50% of my income from ARe was ePub, with the remainder split between PDF and Mobi fairly equally. Have any other authors ever analysed their sales from ARe - did you have a similar split?

So. Questions to ask, where are the 50% going to get their books now? I haven't had a new book out since the ARe implosion so I can't tell yet, but I imagine they are pretty stymied and will go to Smashword, B&N, Kobo? As to PDF, well the only place you can get that format now is Smashwords. 

Have those reading ePub converted to Kindle? And what about the 25% or so that bought Kindle from ARe, will they now go  to Amazon? Were the ARe sales mostly about the free ebook bucks they offered? Was it hatred for Kindle (I've seen this a lot, believe me). Was it about owning files?

Now, another interesting statistic is that the majority of my sales are through Amazon, by far my biggest market is Amazon.com, with UK following after. With potential Mobi sales from ARe switching to Amazon, will this make our books more visible to passing trade? Will more people join KU?

Also, I looked at Kindle.com at *books / gay lesbian/ lit and fic / fiction/ romance / gay*, the following positions were non-KU books.

7, 13, 17, 36, 39, 42, 53, 64, 66, 67, 81, 82, 83, 88, 89, 92, 95, 96, 97

That is three in the top 20, on page 1 of Amazon.com, and only 1 of those books is what we in the web design trade called *above the fold* ie, where you don't need to scroll to see them.

Only 19 out of the top 100 in Amazon.com at this moment for that category is non-KU, or *wide*.

So, should all authors be putting their books into KU? Should we adopt the all-eggs-in-one-basket that a lot of us swore we wouldn't do? Will ARe force us to do things we don't want to do if Mobi becomes the predominant document type??

Maybe 80% of my sales are Kindle Mobi from the different places - how long will it be until it has to be 100% and all in KU for the first three months? 


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Scribd and the future of subscription based services

We keep an eye on sales and income to the penny. We know how many books I have sold in all the various territories of Amazon, and from all the other third parties.

We noticed something a bit odd, Smashwords Income fell in the last quarter. Not by much but enough for us to question what was happening. Scribd, a subscription service, in the same vein as Kindle Unlimited, fed their sales and income to us through Smashwords, and this is what we were missing.


On further investigation, it turns out that Scribd took most, if not all, of their romance and erotica titles off of their service back in July.


Why? Because apparently readers were reading them *too much*. Yep, romance readers just read too many books (tries to look innocent and then checks my own *have read* list - yep, I read a lot!)

"...Scribd has to pay the authors of the books they make available on their site, it is now shelling out more money than it can make back in subscriptions, thanks to the voracious appetites of romance and erotica readers. ... The Guardian, July 2015.

All of my books have disappeared from Scribd. All gone. So, no more borrowing from their subscriptions based service for anyone. :(

So, what does this mean for the likes of Kindle Unlimited?

I wish I knew. Will KU pick up the subscribers who were at Scribd originally? I'm not sure, I know a lot of MM authors who don't have titles in KU, but whose books were all on Scribd. (Scribd didn't make people just put their books into their scheme - and paid the price probably.)

Will it mean more changes in KU to lower money per page if more MM books go on there and more are read?

GAH. As usual the KU question is a tricky one. Still, my MF is going KU, so we'll see how that goes ;)


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69 - The KU Effect

I must admit to smiling when hubby pulled together the statistic that 69% of my sales (not income, physical books sold) is from Amazon. But then, I am a child at heart...

Anyway, back to the real world of this post. I've had a couple of really hard weeks thinking on this and have spent a long time discussing with other authors about the effect that Kindle Unlimited is having on sales. I thought I'd get all my thoughts off my chest so I can stop worrying.

First off I would say I am not an expert on this, and I am sure there are people out there much more fluent than I am discussing KU. This is just my thought process and as such it may be quite scary... ROFL

* * * * *

So, the nitty gritty of it is that 69% of my physical book sales are from Amazon.

The full run down looks something like this:

(physical book sales analysis, Jan - April 2015)

Amazon (all territories) - 68.72%
All Romance - 8.89%
Smashwords Direct - 0.18%
Apple - 4.39%
B&N - 6.23%
Kobo - 3.43%
Oyster - 2.52%
Scribd - 5.65%

So. A couple of things from this data.
  1. Amazon is my biggest market, with the split mostly being US/UK then Germany
  2. Amazon US : Amazon UK = the ratio is 4 US Books sold vs 1 UK book sold - so the US market is my biggest Amazon market
  3. Places like KU where you can borrow etc (Oyster and Scribd) already account for just over 8% of my book sales.
  4. None of the Amazon sales include any of the four old books I put out on KU, so there is no KU skewing of the data.
I'm following with interest the storm surrounding KU and would note the following:

  1. At the moment 15 out of the top 20 Gay books at Amazon US are Kindle Unlimited books.
  2. At the moment 8 out of the top 10 Gay on Amazon US are KU books 
** Of course, this changes hourly, but a couple of my author friends have been tracking and this seems to be a pretty sound summing up of the situation over the last couple of months.


How has KU challenged my sales?

  1. I'm not sure it has yet. 
  2. Max & The Prince went top 5 but the Bodyguard series does well, so I was really happy to see that. It's an established series and people know what to look for when it comes out.
  3. Summer House went top twenty, but not for long. It's book 1 in a series. It didn't go top ten, but then I never expect my books to go top ten, it's just nice when they pop in there for a few days.
  4. Retrograde, which is the first in a series of related books went top 40 for a little while.

Why is it important to go top 100 on Amazon?

  1. Because you get noticed, and you could get sales from people *browsing*. 
  2. Remember, 69% of my sales come from Amazon, ROFL. If I don't get noticed, will the 69% start to fade away?
  3. What about authors who cuurently get to 40 on Amazon, and who will now be 60, or 70. 
  4. What about authors who currently get into the 100, but now won't at all?

What will happen now?
  1. Will the top twenty be totally KU thus meaning anyone who doesn't do KU will never get noticed by readers?
  2. Possibly readers could start to think, I need to check page 2 on Amazon to see where the non KU authors are? Do the readers do this already?
  3. If you don't get top 100 at all, because of KU, will your book ever get seen?
  4. What happens when there are so many authors tied to KU that Amazon can drop their percentage on royalties and we'll all have no comeback? 
  5. Will everyone go to KU first which means ultimately I will have no choice but to do the same?

 What about publishers?
  1. KU must play havoc on publishers income as well. Finding a non KU book in the top 20 is as rare as rocking horse shit. 
  2. Will publishers feel they have to go the KU route?

So why don't I put my new books out with KU at the moment?
  1. You are tied for three months, and in those three months my books wouldn't be available in any other format than Mobi for Kindle.
  2. Yes, anyone can have a kindle reader on their dedicated Kindle, or have a phone app, or a PC app, but not everyone wants to read via Kindle.
  3. Did I mention 69% of my sales are Amazon... what about the other 31% of loyal readers? I'm not a new writer, I've been doing this five years or more now and I have a wonderful, and established, reader base and I feel loyalty to them.
  4. Some of the percentage at ARe etc will be getting Mobi files but refuse to deal with Amazon.
  5. I learnt my lesson with Silver Publishing about putting all my eggs in one basket.  And putting everything onto KU at the moment is certainly all eggs in one basket
  6. KU is a way of a reader *trying* MM, or *trying* an MM author they hadn't before. I get that, still, see the points above...

The future

  1. Should I create a new series and put it on KU? Explain to all my readers why I am doing it? Maybe the Billionaires Club?
  2. My worry is KU will become THE place to sell which leaves Amazon with a stranglehold on the market.
What do you think? 

  • Would you feel really let down if an author you follow puts a book out on KU? 
  • Do you refuse to go to Amazon? Or do you prefer Amazon?
  • Are you an author? What are you looking to do with this KU issue?
EDIT

Good article here - http://selenakitt.com/blog/the-new-kindle-unlimited-what-it-means-for-authors-readers/

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Kindle Unlimited - Free Books

Not tried an RJ Scott story? Member of Kindle Unlimited? Like MM gay romance? You may be interested in the following news...

I now have four titles available exclusively to buy through Amazon, available to read for free using Kindle Unlimited.

Deefur Dog | One Night | The Decisions We Make | The Gallows Tree

Deefur Dog

For over a year, widowed Cameron Jackson has tried to juggle his business with childcare for his two year old daughter ...all while living with Deefur, a Great Dane who believes he rules the house.

Nannies last a day, some don't even make it through the front door if the self-proclaimed ruler doesn't approve. Something has to give.

Enter Jason Everson, nanny, teacher in training, apparent dog whisperer, and the only man who seems to make it past the initial scrutiny of the king.

Can Jason help Cam put his house in order and help to heal his heart?

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)


One Night

Liam Wade is rich, successful, and Leigh is the perfect, approved, wife for him. Before he settles down to give his daughter the best family he can, he wants one week away, to think. Just to make sure that he can leave half of himself hidden and marry without love, because Liam has one big problem in all of this -- he's gay.

Micah Adamson is the owner of a vineyard in Rochester NY, and has yet to find the partner he knows is out there for him. he believes in love and wants forever, and one day he knows he will find his 'forever' man. He attends a wine festival in Santa Monica, seven nights in a beautiful hotel on the beach.

Micah wants to show that love between two men includes affection, understanding, and can be forever. Will he make Liam see sense?

Amazon (UK) | Amazon (US)


The Decisions We Make

Daniel Keyes is an orphan, fostered by the Walker’s. The product of a lonely childhood, he is thrown into the chaos of the Walker family and into the life of his new foster brother Jamie.
 
This story is the journey of Daniel and Jamie finding their place in the world. 
 
Through Jamie being a victim of hate crime to coming out to family and friends, there are many decisions the boys have to make before they become men.

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK)
 

The Gallows Tree

Cody Garret is only just finding his way after an abusive relationship ended with his ex in prison. Coming to England to restore Mill Cottage is his way of running so he has time to heal. His goal is simple—hire a company to help make the mill cottage saleable then go back to the States.

What he doesn’t count on is meeting Sebastian Toulson-Brown, the brother of his contractor and the man who may be able to show him he can stop running.

But first Cody and Sebastian must deal with the ghosts of lost loves and the destinies that are woven into the story of the mill and the sycamore trees that stand on its land, one of which might be the gallows tree.

 
 
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